译林版牛津高中英语(必修3):Unit 3 Back to the past-Reading(2)（在线收听）

Day 3, 17th July

第3天－7月17日

Today I saw the ancient Roman city of Pompeii as it was 2,000 years ago. How amazing!

今天，我亲眼看到了2000年前保存下来的古罗马城市--庞贝。真是令人称奇啊！

The city was forgotten for many years until the 18th century when a farmer discovered a stone with writing on it.

这座城市被世人遗忘了很多年，直到18世纪，有一个农夫偶然发现了一块写着文字的石头。

People started to dig in the area for treasure, which caused much damage.

结果，人们就开始在这个地区挖掘金银财宝，对遗址造成了很大的破坏。

Thus, in 1860, the area was put under government protection so it could be preserved and studied.

因此，1860年，由政府保护该片区域，这样它就可以被保存、学习。

When I walked around the city, I saw streets just as they had been,

走在古城中，我看到原样保存下来的街道，

with stepping stones along the road so you did not have to step in the mud on rainy days!

上面铺满了踏脚石，这样，每逢下雨天行人就可以不用踩着泥巴了！

I saw several houses which were decorated with wall paintings.

我看了好几间墙上绘有壁画的房子。

I also saw the people who had been buried alive.

我还看到了许多被活埋的人。后变成了化石的死难者尸体-他们在2000年前的样子被原封不动地保存了下来。

It turns out that after the ash covered the people who failed to flee the city, their bodies nearly completely broke down and disappeared, leaving empty spaces in the ash.

原来，火山灰覆盖了没能逃离城市的人，他们的身体几乎全部烧化消失了，只留下火山灰里的人形空当。